


Of Lists and Boys

by caramelsun



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Donghyuck being nosy, Donghyuck being shy and confident at the same time, Jaemin also best bestfriend ever, Jaemin cant keep his hands off renjun, Jeno feeding the cats, M/M, Mark is the best bestfriend ever, One Shot, doyoung as jeno's hyung, mentioned renmin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-27 10:53:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19789396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/caramelsun/pseuds/caramelsun
Summary: Donghyuck finds his neighbor one day, feeding the stray cats and finds him cute. But has no guts to actually approach and talk to him. So when a golden opportunity appears in front of him a.k.a. Jeno dropping his things, he grabs it but knowing Donghyuck, he blows it out of proportion.or in which Donghyuck becomes catboy's savior.





	Of Lists and Boys

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the one who gave this prompt! really enjoyed writing it! i hope I gave the prompt justice T T 
> 
> and thank you to my beta ㅠㅠ wont be able to finish this without you ㅠㅠ

“So how’s college doing?” Doyoung asks from the other end of the line. Doyoung’s like Jeno’s older brother, growing up as neighbors and going to the same school. Jeno also picked his university based on Doyoung’s choices and he ended up attending the same school. Too bad Doyoung’s already finished with university by the time Jeno started.

“Great actually. So far, I haven’t missed a class yet and most of my classmates seem fine.” It hasn’t been 2 months since Jeno moved out of his parents’ house to experience how it feels to be independent. “Well, most are fine. You know me, I can’t handle noisy people and the people at the back seem to never shut up even with the professor having a lecture.”

Doyoung lets out a loud laugh before giving Jeno some advice about college, “You’ll never avoid those kinds of people. College is like a mixing bowl of everything, you have the nerds, the jocks, the weirdos and the miscellaneous.”

“Isn’t that high school?”

“In a way yes. But this time, less rules so everything’s chaos!” Doyoung says, his voice echoing, Making Jeno suspicious.

“Why am I on loudspeaker?” Jeno asks anxiously, hoping the older’s friends weren’t by his apartment anymore. Don’t get Jeno wrong, he loves his hyung’s friends but there are times the teasings get out of hand. “Ten better not be there. I can’t handle his sass right now.”

“Relax. I’m just looking for something. You might need it for one of your classes. You’re taking anatomy right?” Jeno could hear the shuffling of papers and the ruckus of moving boxes through the phone. “Finally! Why was it buried so deep in my boxes? I’ll send this to you tomorrow.”

“Speaking of anatomy, there’s this guy in my class who never stops talking. I know I just said it earlier but this guy is on a whole new other level. He comes up with jokes one right after another!” Jeno says with a sigh.

“You just have to live with it, my dear youngin. But I really have to go, my friends are gonna kill me if I’m even minute late.”

“I still don’t know why you like hanging out with your friends even though all you do is bicker.”

“It’s called dynamics and one day you’ll realize it’s fun to have someone to bicker with everyday.”

“Yeah, yeah whatever. Just go.” Jeno feigns annoyance at his hyung, “not gonna miss you by the way.”

“Yeah yeah goodbye to you,too. And please stop feeding the strays. I know your parents only send you enough money for yourself.” Pleads Doyoung before hanging up.

Jeno sighs as he puts his phone away. He needed to finish everything on his to-do list before heading for work. He didn’t really need to work, the allowance his parents gave him was enough for him to survive daily life but with his new picked up responsibility of feeding the stray cats in the neighborhood, he’s gonna need some extra cash.

The bell attached to the store’s main entrance chimes as a customer enters, heading straight to the shelves of instant coffee. Jeno ignores the blob of silver hair, busy flipping through his lecture notes. His class received a tip from the seniors that the professors would randomly drop pop quizzes around this time of the term. He wanted to stay on top of his game at the same time be a responsible adult.

Face buried under his notes, he doesn’t notice the boy approaching with his arms full of different kinds of food and coffee.

“Excuse me?” a familiar voice says, face hidden behind the stack of groceries, “Can I just put it here?”

Jeno quickly shoves his notes away to help the poor boy relocate the snacks from his arm to the counter.

“Sorry for this. I just need stuff to keep me awake for the shit that’s about to happen,” the boy apologizes, sounding embarrassed with the amount of junk and caffeine he’s about to poison his body with.

“No need to apologize. Being a college student means we don’t get sleep at all,” Jeno consoles the other, getting hold of the last bag of chips covering the customer’s face. He stands stock-still as his eyes land on the most annoying face he’s ever met. It’s the guy from his class, who disrupts everyone without an ounce of shame or decency. No wonder it sounded so disturbingly familiar.

“Oh! You’re a classmate right?” the boy perks up, dumping the remaining armful of coffee on the counter. “I saw you reading some notes earlier. Read more of the central dogma if you’re studying biochemistry, I heard from the other class that the pop quiz was about that.”

Jeno nods silently, not really knowing what to say. He begins scanning the purchases to avoid all forms of eye contact.

The atmosphere remains tense silent as Jeno scans the last of the snacks and the boy hands him his card.

“Thanks and see you around,” the boy says cheerily, waving with a smile before leaving the store. Jeno remain rigid, not sure what to feel about interacting with the boy who is the cause of his headaches at class.

“You won’t believe who I saw at the 7/11!” Donghyuck screams into his phone the moment he arrives at his apartment, damaging his bestfriend’s eardrums.

“I don’t even have to guess. Your enthusiasms screams ‘catboy’,” Mark sighs. “Please tell me you at least talked to him.”

“Of course I did!”

“Ok so aside from maybe hello and goodbye, what else did you say to him?”

“I can’t believe you’re doubting me, your own bestfriend!” Donghyuck lets out a hurt ouch, “I told him what to study for biochemistry!”

“Wow. An improvement from staring at him whenever you see him on the streets. Why don’t you just approach him, pretty sure he’s a nice guy. I mean, he even feeds the strays. What screams nice guy more than that?” Mark’s got a point but the thing is, he knows catboy doesn’t like him that much. It hasn’t been long since classes started and he’s a hundred percent sure he’s the one in his group of friends receiving the death glares from him. “And why do you still call him Catboy? Isn’t he in like 3 of your class?”

“You know I can’t do that…” Donghyuck buries his face under his pillow, he finally got to his bed after dialing Mark’s number the moment he step foot inside his unit. “And yes he is but all of those class are in lecture halls. You know how big the lecture halls are in this university. So yes, it’s still catboy.”

“I’m pretty sure he doesn’t hate you. Talk to him and you can now be sure if it really is you who he kills with his glares.”

“Maybe someday,” Donghyuck bites his lip. “When I’m a hundred percent sure he doesn’t hate me.”

“For God’s sake, he lives next to you!” Mark lets out an exasperated sigh, “Walk down the hall, knock on his door and introduce yourself.”

“Mark Lee! How dareyou use the lord’s name in vain?! That’s nnot very Christian of you” Brave of Mark Lee to assume he doesn’t think of approaching him every day.

“Okay. Fine I give up! Wallow in that creepy stalkerish thing you’re doing. I still got stuff to do. Call me when you actually get the guts to actually walk up to him and have a decent conversation.”

“Looks like we won’t be talking for a very long time, my dear bestfriend,” Donghyuck says in a singsong way that probably got Mark to roll his eyes.

“Donghyuck, I swear to God, talk to him or-“

“I still have a whole chapter to finish reading, good bye Lee!” Donghyuck hungs up the phone and lets out a muffled scream into his pillow. This is gonna be a long ass semester.

Jeno runs through the lobby, carefully evading the stream of students as he tries to make it to his first class. It’s only 8 AM and he’s already feeling the stress of the whole day. Pop quizzes, formal reports, graded recitations and the dreaded recorded attendance of his 8 AM class. Jeno usually wakes up early, but with all the juggling of his academics and working part-time, his body started sleeping in for a couple more minutes than usual.

Jeno whoops a quiet yes as he sees the door to the lecture hall still open.He stops for a second, calmly entering the room as if he wasn’t running for his life a few seconds ago. He looks around, spotting his friend in the middle of the room, an empty seat beside him.

“I can’t believe you were almost late. And in Professor Bae’s class out of all classes. Good thing she’s late today,” Jaemin whispers angrily, pulling out the chair for Jeno. “And you look like someone ran you over with his car.”

“I had to run ok?” Jeno explains, defensively,a little out of breath, “I slept through my alarm. I really need those noisy clocks you see on TV.”

“Did you put that on your list too?” Jaemin asks.

“List? Oh, right!” Jeno rummages through his bag for his notepad. “Uhm… where’s my notepad?”

“Why are you asking me? Go look in between your books.You do know it’s not normal to actually have a list of your problems, right? That’s like asking for constant anxiety,” Jaemin offers his opinion to a anxious Jeno looking.

“Yeah I know. But it actually helps in my case because I forget to do them. My mom’s going to kill me when she sees how dead the plants are.”

“Are you sure you put it in your bag? Maybe you left it at home?”

“Hundred percent sure,” Jeno searches all his bag pockets diligently, forgetting the rest of the world for a second. He doesn’t notice his professor calling for attendance, nor the boy coming in late, breathing hard from all the running he did.

Donghyuck flips through the blue dotted notepad he found right outside his apartment this. He was in such a hurry that he just picked it up, put it in his bag and dashed for their campus, dreading to be marked absent in Ms. Bae’s class. Out of all the classes he could forget he has, it just had to be her class.

He opens the cover of the notepad and sees a drawing of different cats on the first page. He thought of his neighbor, who was just as obsessed with cats.He continues scanning the notepad, finding what seems like a list of problems. One of them says “WATER THE PLANTS OR MOM’S GONNA KILL ME” and Donghyuck remembers the dried up plants he saw in his neighbor’s balcony. Yup. Definitely catboy.

He was so engrossed that he doesn’t even notice Mark approach him with 2 glasses of chocolate shakes in hand.

“What’s that you got there?” Mark asks to grab Donghyuck’s attention.

“Catboy’s problem list,” Donghyuck answers, still not looking up from the notepad.

“This is a whole new other level of creepy…” Mark takes a seat across Donghyuck, putting his friend’s glass on his side. “Don’t tell me you sneaked into his room and stole that. Lee Donghyuck, you’re dead to me if you did. I don’t want a criminal as my bestfriend, please.”

“Relax your skinny ass, please. I saw it outside my unit this morning when I was on my way out to class. He might have dropped it,” Donghyuck says defensively, showing Mark the list he found. “Look at these. I can’t believe he lists his problems like this. He even wrote the number 8 even though it’s empty. It’s like he’s waiting for a new problem to come.”

“Stop snooping around and isn’t this an opportunity? You finally have a reason to talk to him!”

“What are you saying? Have you gone mad?!” Donghyuck slams the small notepad shut and looks at Mark like he just told him to go kill someone.

“What else are you supposed to do? Be his secret angel and solve his problems for him?” Mark shakes his head and takes a sip off his shake. “Are you gonna drink that or not? Because I’m really thirsty and I think I can handle two right now.”

“I know what I’m supposed to do! Oh my god I’m a genius! Why don’t I be his secret angel and solve his problems for him?” Donghyuck half shouts, careful not to startle the other customers in the café with a smug look in his face. Like he actually thinks it’s a good idea.

“What are you saying?! That’s my idea! And that’s not even the problem with the whole thing that you said! You can’t just solve someone else’s problems for them! And that thing says he needs to water his plants! That’s in his balcony right? What are you gonna do? Jump into his balcony just to do that?!” Mark looks at Donghyuck, fear and something a mix of disbelief and awe in his eyes at what his bestfriend is about to do.

“Watch me do everything you told me not to do,” Donghyuck says, winking cheerily and grabbing the glass of chocolate milkshake. “And I’m drinking this. What’s better than annoying you is getting free food from you.

“Oh I need to go now,” Donghyuck steals a glance at his wristwatch before picking up his bag and standing up.“I have a pop quiz in like 10 minutes. You remember the tip I gave catboy about the biochemistry pop quiz? Yup that one. I’m glad Felix from the other class gave me a tip. I'm definitely gonna ace-“

“Wait, Felix? Lee Felix?” Mark asks with a small hint of alarm in his voice, “Please don’t tell me you told catboy what Felix told you?”

“Yeah. Is there something wrong with that?” Donghyuck’s not sure but he’s starting to feel a little bit of panic from Mark’s tone.

“Good luck bro. Looks like you and catboy are failing this pop quiz, maybe even a 0. Felix never leaks the right quizzes.” Mark shrugs, giving Donghyuck a look of pity.

“Well shit. Are you serious? Renjun said we can trust Felix…” Donghyuck now is in full blown panic. “But fuck. I can’t trust Renjun too. For all I know he was in this. Huang Renjun, is this what I get after 10 years of friendship.”

Donghyuck had only been friends with Renjun since the beginning of uni but they clicked the moment they opened their mouth, they are both talkative as hell and have the same knack for trouble.

Mark starts laughing out of nowhere. “You do realize that you gave Catboy the wrong information right? If he was annoyed at you, after this quiz you’re probably dead to him.”

Donghyuck slumps back down on his seat because Mark is absolutely right.

Jeno finally had a day off from school and work so he decided to turn his whole apartment upside down but still hasn’t found his notepad. It’s been days and he really needed to find it. It had all his schedules and mini notes about his daily life. Nothing really embarrassing but for someone like Jeno who constantly forgets to do chores and wants to have a good control of his schedule, he needs it. He already forgot to do his laundry last wee

After hours of practically overturning every furniture he has in his small apartment, he decides to go take a walk to the market to get some cat food, his weekly supply has diminished in just a few days due to the increase of stray cats approaching him. The little fluffs of fur he has been feeding might have invited some friends over. He’s not complaining though, he loves the even though he’s allergic to fur.

He got his jacket, preparing for the walk, until he notices the black plastic bag on his door handle.. He reaches for it, checking the hallways to see if someone was looking for misplaced groceries. The bag was quite heavy, the plastic straining under the weight of its content. He sees a familiar label and at least two more cans in the bag, and couldn’t believe this stroke of luck. He pulls one out, feeling the cold metal against his bare skin.

It’s cat food. The exact brand he buys.

“Jaemin.” Jeno says hurriedly when he arrives for class the next day. Being in the same program and agreeing to take the same subjects for the term really was a good idea for Jeno. Jaemin has always been his go to person for unexpected events like this. “I have a question.”

“Go. Shoot.” Jaemin angles his body towards his, eyes still on his phone.

“What if I see a bag of cat food outside my door? Do I leave it there or…?” Jeno wastes no time and asks. He badly wants to use that cat food. It’s free. He doesn’t need to add another dent on his bank account.

“Or use it to feed the strays?” he finally got Jaemin’s attention as he looks up and puts his phone flat on the table. “Are you sure no one left it there on accident?”

“I told you before that pets aren’t allowed inside our dorm, right? That’s why I can’t bring Seol and the others.”

“So are you saying someone left cat food on your door?” Jaemin’s eyebrows shoots up in a questioning way.

“What if someone’s seen me feeding the cats and wants to help me feed them?” Jeno knows it’s a stretch but it wouldn’t hurt to think someone also loves cats as much he does. And thinking someone else wants to feed that strays just sounds good to him.

“I guess that makes more sense than someone accidentally living it on your door,” Jaemin says after thinking about it for a few seconds, “Go use it to feed the strays then.”

“Well, I already did.” Jeno says, scratching the back of his head as he flashes Jaemin a smile. “Just wanted to hear someone else say it’s ok so my conscience won’t eat me up.”

“Can’t believe I’m friends with a dork.”

“You mean bestfriends, right?”

“Yeah yeah. Sure,” Jaemin waves his hand to dismiss Jeno as he turns his phone back to whatever he was playing before Jeno interrupted him with his cat problems.

“I DID IT!” Donghyuck shouts into his phone as he walks on his way to uni. The sun was hidden behind the clouds so it was a perfect weather to have a stroll before going to class.

“Finally gave him back his notepad?” Mark asks in hushed tone. “Wait a sec, let me pack my things and head outside. I’m inside the library.”

“Perfect! I’ll walk there and let’s meet outside. I still have an hour before my class and if I remember correctly, you don’t have class anymore.”

“I swear if this is about you stalking about catboy aga-”

“See you in a few!” Donghyuck cuts him off and hangs up the phone. As soon as he spots an office supply store, he stops on his tracks and fishes out something from his bag. It was catboy’s notepad. Flipping through the pages, he scans for what he’s looking for, the problem list. He remembers there was something about buying more paper for his printer and since he needed some too, why not buy for them both.

He slides the notepad back into his bag before heading straight into the shop with a playful smile on his face.

“What took you so long and what’s that?” Mark asks as soon as he sees Donghyuck arrive at the lobby of the library.

“Had to buy some stuff,” Donghyuck says, lifting the armful of paper to Mark’s face.

“Isn’t that too much paper?” Mark asks, looking inside the bag.

“Not if it’s for 2 people.”

“Neat! You bought me pape-“ Donghyuck pulled back before Mark could take some out of the bag. “Hey!”

“No one said it was for you, dipshit,” Donghyuck shakes his head but at the same time pouting. “It’s for me and catboy.”

“Catboy again,” Mark pushes Donghyuck to the direction of Donghyuck’s next class. “I’ll walk you to your room. What were you telling me about earlier? I know it’s about catboy.”

“It is!” Donghyuck lets out a small laugh as he remembers what he did. “Remember my idea about solving his problems for him?”

“Technically my idea but continue.”

“Mine. But yeah so I decided to water his plants every day whenever I’m sure he’s out. Earlier this morning, I left some cans of catfood by his door.”

“Wait,” Mark halts on his steps and looks at Donghyuck, shocked. “You bought him catfood AND paper? Damn, I guess being the son of pharmaceutical company really helps you buy him stuff.”

Donghyuck slowly nods to Mark’s question.

“I can’t believe you’re a sugar daddy at such a young age,” Mark shakes his head but is soon replaced by laughter as Donghyuck starts punching his arms.

“Sugar daddy my ass,” Donghyuck continues on punching his bestfriend, his face turning red to what Mark just said. “I’m just being a good Samaritan here. And I’m trying to make it up for me screwing up his exam. So he won’t hate me anymore.

“Yeah yeah keep on making excuses, doesn’t change the fact that you’re catboy’s sugar daddy!” Mark runs to the opposite direction of Donghyuck’s class as soon as he said sugar daddy to escape Donghyuck’s punches and incoming slaps. “And you’ll be late for class if you don’t start running now!”

Donghyuck checks the time to see it was just a few minutes before he’s late. He looks at Mark’s retreating figure before sprinting to his classroom.

Jeno regrets agreeing to a hangout with his and Jaemin’s friends. It has been a while since he last saw Chenle and Jisung, but damn do they get super noisy when they’re all together. Especially Chenle and Jisung. They bicker like an old married couple.

It’s after his and Jaemin’s last class for the day and Jisung and Chenle appears out of nowhere inviting themselves into Jeno’s apartment.

“Oh! Right! Jeno has someone who’s been sending him gifts,” Jaemin suddenly brings up the topic about the weird things happening to him lately.

“OH? Like secret admirer?” Jisung probes Jeno. “I can’t believe you’re the first one to get a boyfriend among us.”

“No one said anything about boyfriends, Jisung.” Chenle rolls his eyes at his friend.

“A secret admirer? I don’t think so…” Jeno says but he won’t lie he did like the sound of someone liking him. His love life has been drier than his dying plants since forever.

“Go on! Tell them what happened lately,” Jaemin nudges him impatiently. “Ok fine. I’ll start. Someone’s been giving him cat food and other small stuff.”

“Small stuff like?” Jisung asks, his butt hovering from his chair as he leans in closer to listen to Jaemin. Chenle pulls him down to get a better view of their friend.

“Like paper and ink for my printer, batteries for god knows why,” Jeno answers Jisung’s questions.

“You got an anonymous sugar daddy and you never told us?” Jisung accuses Jeno.

“Shut up. Like Chenle doesn’t buy you everything you ask for.” Jeno shoots him down and laughs at Chenle choking on the drink he prepared for them.

“Hey, Jeno. Good job in watering the plants. They’re looking more alive than the last time I was here,” Jaemin says from Jeno’s balcony.

It was almost dinner time so the sun was setting, casting orange and yellow beams all over Jeno’s room. The room looked a mixture of good and weird but Jeno’s attention was on what Jaemin said. About how the plants were starting to look alive but he knew he never even watered it. Not even once in the last few weeks.

“I keep on forgetting to water them,” Jeno stands, joining Jaemin in the balcony. He reaches for one of the pots his mom made him bring to the city. The leaves were dewy, the tips already withered and dead but the stem green from life. “That’s strange. I swear this was almost dead last week.”

“Doesn’t look dead to me,” Jaemin says, snatching the pot from Jeno’s hands to place it back on the ledge. “Don’t touch it. Everything you touch dies.”

“Who’s watering them?” Jisung asks from inside Jeno’s room. “Dude, don’t tell me you got a stalker.”

“Oh my god. He even got into Jeno’s apartment. JENO’S GOT A STALKER!” Chenle shouts, his voice followed by the sound of pots falling from the other side of Jeno’s apartment wall.

Jaemin steals a glance on the other side of Jeno’s balcony, trying to catch a glimpse of whoever was on the unit. But Jeno pushes him back to his room before he could.

“Quiet down, will you? You probably startled my neighbor.” Jeno goes back inside his room, pushing Jaemin back down on his chair. “The walls aren’t that thick. Every morning, the neighbor’s music actually wakes me up. Quite a savior actually,” Jeno muses. “I haven’t been late for a week now.”

“Wow. If that were me, I’d be annoyed at loud music,” Chenle chimes in, taking a sip from the tea Jeno had given them earlier.

“I’m your roommate and I get annoyed at your loud mouth,” Jisung says without thinking, gasping when he realizes what he just said. But it’s too late to take it back because Chenle is already on his knees, ready to attack Jisung.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?”

“I SAID I’M PERFECTLY FINE WITH YOUR VOLUME WHENEVER YOU DECIDE TO RAP AND SING OUT OF NOWHERE,” Jisung shouts, afraid of what Chenle would do next but Chenle sits back down, pats Jisung’s head and gives him a smile.

“That’s what I thought so too,” Jisung shivers at the look Chenle was giving him, looks like there won’t be sleeping tonight due to Chenle’s loud ass singing again.

“I swear to all the gods, I don’t know who acts more like an old married couple- my parents or you guys.” Jeno laughs at his friends’ banter and shakes his head. Actually, he doesn’t regret letting them hangout at his place, it’s been a while since they’ve been together and he feels right at home when the four of them are together.

He hears a ruckus on the other side of the wall, a loud voice screaming “Jeno’s got a stalker!” causes him to lose grip on the pot he was holding. He startles himself with a curse before finishing up his tidying and wiping his hands dry. He needed to leave before they head out, he still needs to keep the fact that he’s neighbors with catboy a secret.

He grabs his small pouch before heading out, hoping his neighbor’s guests are still busy with whatever so he can escape unseen. What he doesn’t know notice is a head sticking out his neighbor’s door, checking his identity, a playful smirk on his lips.

Jeno goes down with the flu a week after Jaemin finds out who Jeno’s next door neighbor is.Jeno’s had 3 consecutive graveyard shift for the week. He was only supposed to have 1 per week but 2 of his co-workers suddenly asked him to switch. Jeno, finding it hard to say no, took them even though he has morning classes the following days.

The start of the rainy season didn’t help either.He has always been sensitive to the cold, catching the bug whenever his body gets stressed and rain-touched.

Jaemin’s been thinking of how to find out who Jeno’s savior is until he notices a certain boy from the back of the class craning his neck, probably looking for someone and he’s suddenly hit by a eureka moment.

Jaemin wastes no time and makes a beeline to where Donghyuck’s desk as soon as their last professor dismisses their class.

“Hi Donghyuck!” Jaemin greets cheerily, dropping the bag of medicine and instant porridge on Donghyuck’s desk before Donghyuck could leave. “I need a favor from you.”

Donghyuck gives Jaemin a confused look, looking at the bag suspiciously.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed, Jeno’s absent today and in case you’re wondering why,” Jaemin stops mid-sentence to wink at DOnghyuck, hinting him that he knows something, “the loser couldn’t say no and ended up taking 3 consecutive night shifts,” Jaemin continues exasperatedly. “I need you to deliver this to him, since you know, you seem to be helping him a lot.”

Jaemin waits for Donghyuck’s reaction to this out of the ordinary request. Anything that might give away that he has been the one giving Jeno random stuff and maybe even watering his plants. Jaemin’s only about a quarter percent sure that it’s Donghyuck but nothing to lose if he tries.

And alas, Donghyuck lets out a nervous laugh, eyes evading Jaemin’s cheeky smile.

“What do you mean? Haven’t really done anything,” Donghyuck says, eyes still focusing on everything except Jaemin’s.

“Oh nothing. I’ve heard stuff from Jeno,” Jaemin says, needing to bait him more, crack him more until Donghyuck gives in. “Little things. Jeno’s told me stuff.”

“Stuff? Like what?” If Jaemin could read minds, he knows Donghyuck’s brain was already busy coming up with excuses. Jaemin doesn’t give up on stuff like this. As much as he looked like someone who wouldn’t meddle in other people’s business, he’s actually the exact opposite and Donghyuck got unlucky he got involved with his bestfriend.

Jaemin pretends to think, enjoying Donghyuck’s nervous stance.

“Something like maybe watering his plants?” Jaemin was already bluffing at this point, throwing a blind punch hoping it’ll land.

Donghyuck stays silent for awhile, eyes focused on the plastic bag on his desk. Jaemin knows he’s finally cracked.

“Ok. Fuck so Jeno knows it has been me the whole time?” Donghyuck slumps back on his seat, mind already thinking of what to tell Jeno the next time he sees him.

Donghyuck was already set to leave for the dorms when Jaemin surprises him with a bag of groceries. He didn’t know that the conversation would turn into something he’s been dreading since the day he found the notepad. Someone finding out he’s been the one solving Jeno’s problems.

“Nah. I’m just fucking with you. The guy’s clueless. Has no idea who’s been helping him when you’ve been living next to each other for months,” Jaemin gives him a pat on the shoulder. “But really, I need a favor.”

Donghyuck lets out a sigh of relief, “Thank God. I don’t know how to tell explain why I never returned his notepad back. So what’s the favor you-“

“HOLD ON!” Jaemin raises his hand to Donghyuck’s face, startling him. “YOU HAVE JENO’S NOTEPAD?”

“FUCK AGAIN. Please don’t tell Jeno. I’ll tell him myself. Can’t believe I walked right into that one.”

“I won’t. As long as you do what I asked.”Jaemin gives him a smile that’s way too smug for Donghyuck’s liking. It was a bad idea, but he got cornered.

“Like I have a choice,” Donghyuck says, giving in to Jaemin’s satisfaction.

“I need you to bring this to Je-“

“No.” Donghyuck doesn’t even let Jaemin finish because he knows what he’s about to say.

“Guess someone has some explaining to my bestfriend then,” Jaemin reaches out for the bag of groceries only to be stopped by Donghyuck.

“I’ll do it.” Donghyuck sighs in defeat. “I just need to deliver this right?” Donghyuck takes the bag from his desk and stuffs it inside his slingbag.

“Of course not. He’s sick. Make sure he eats the porridge and he drinks the meds I got,” Jaemin gives him a thumbs up before leaving him with the bag of groceries.

Donghyuck lingers outside of Jeno’s unit for a whole minute before pressing the doorbell. God knows how much he attempted to run back to his apartment out of nervousness. And now he’s about to turn on his heels and camp back inside his unit but Jeno opens his door before he could escape.

“Jaem, I already told you I’m ok. No nee- You’re not Jaemin,“ Jeno stares at him, looks him up from bottom to top before slamming the door on Donghyuck’s face.

Donghyuck hears Jeno’s voice screaming at someone or something since He doesn’t know if anybody else is home. Then silence and another fit of hushed whispers. The door opens again and Donghyuck notices that Jeno has flushed cheeks but pale lips.

“I’m just gonna get the grocery bags and you can go back home. You probably live somewhere that isn’t near,” Jeno attempts to snatch the groceries from Donghyuck’s hands when Donghyuck’s phone lights up, someone sent him a message.

_Remember the deal. Make him porridge and make sure he drinks his meds. He hates the taste but he needs it. –Nana_

Donghyuck lets out an exasperated sigh before lightly forcing himself into Jeno’s room. It’s not that hard to make porridge and Jeno looks too sick to actually be able to cook. He’s pretty sure guilt will eventually eat him up if he leaves the boy alone.

“Don’t worry, you aren’t a bother. I live next door. Now lead me to the kitchen,” Donghyuck didn’t know where he’s getting all these fake confidence but who cares? As long as he knows Jeno and his secret are ok.

Jeno looks bemused for a second before showing Donghyuck the way to the kitchen which Donghyuck later realizes is stupid because he knows where it is, the unit is an exact replica of his. But there is a difference, the way Jeno has everything organized compared to Donghyuck’s cluttered room that has all his clothes scattered on the floor and unwashed dishes sitting on the sink. Jeno also had small cat plushies on the sofa, which he wasn’t surprised about considereing how much the guy loves cats.

“Go get more sleep, I promise I won’t burn down the kitchen,” Donghyuck pushes Jeno back into his room. “Just yell when you need something so I can bring it to you.”

Jeno closes the door to his room as soon as he gets inside. He swears killing Jaemin will be the first thing he does after he regains his health. His bestfriend knew he’s still annoyed at Donghyuck and he actually meddles by sending the said guy to his place. And what did Donghyuck mean when he said he lives next door? Next door? The guy that blasts music every morning?

Jeno’s been pacing back and forth, earning him a wave of nausea that prompts him to lay down once again. He hates it when he gets sick. He loses all balance and strength whenever the flu hits him. He promises he’ll think about everything again once he wakes up from a short nap, and maybe get answers from Donghyuck.

Jeno wakes up half an hour later to knocks on his door. It was Donghyuck with a bowl of warm porridge and a glass of water.

“I’ll leave this here and prepare the medicine,” Donghyuck feels Jeno’s forehead and clicks his tongue. “You still have a mild fever, I’ll be right back with your meds.”

Donghyuck leaves the tray of food on his bedside table before heading out. Jeno catches a familiar scent but dismisses it because of the growing hunger. He hasn’t eaten the whole day and having someone cook for you without the constant nagging of his bestfriend actually feels nice.

The porridge was okay-ish, Jaemin’s was definitely better but he really can’t complain. The guy was spending his free time taking care of him.

“I’ll leave as soon as I finish washing the dishes. I’m pretty sure you don’t want me here,” Donghyuck places the medicine next to the bowl and was about to go out again when Jeno finds himself initiating a conversation.

“It’s not that I don’t like you. I think we started off on the wrong foot,” Jeno mumbles, avoiding eye contact.

“Yeah. I haven’t gotten the chance to apologize for that quiz incident I honestly didn’t know Renjun would give me the wrong info. Should have known better, he’s always been a prankster.”

“Nah,I’m ok. I passed but barely,” Jeno bites a spoonful of the porridge and gestures to his chair, “Might as well take a seat. It’d be awkward if you wait outside.”

“Thanks,” Donghyuck replies, sitting down. “If it’s any consolation, I totally flunked that quiz.”

Jeno bursts out in laughter, not expecting what Donghyuck just said.

“Nice to see you laughing at my misery despite being sick.”

“Sorry,” Jeno says, stifling his laughter “Just didn’t see that coming.”

“Nah. It’s cool. How’s the porridge by the way. It’s my first time cooking one,” Donghyuck excuses, eyes expecting some sort of approval.

“Edible.”

Jeno sees a pout forming on Donghyuck lips before Donghyuck himself lets out a sigh. And for some reason, Jeno finds it cute.

“I’m kidding. It’s good for a first time. I’ll give you a B-,” Jeno jokes before taking another mouthful of the porridge.

“As long as it isn’t an F, I’ll take it.”

“By the way, you mentioned you lived next door. Have you seen anyone leave cans of catfood on my doorstep?” Jeno asks Donghyuck.

“I said that?” Donghyuck asks, surprised at Jeno’s question.

“Pretty sure that wasn’t a fever dream,” Jeno shrugs, taking the last bits of porridge from his bowl.

Donghyuck stutters before giving Jeno an answer, “Don’t know anyone leaving catfood on doorsteps. Maybe it’s one of the neighbors or someone from another floor?”

Jeno’s lips form a straight line before looking at Donghyuck suspiciously.

“I don’t know. Someone has also been leaving different random things like paper and batteries,” Jeno shrugs, handing the bowl back to Donghyuck. Since Donghyuck’s being hospitable, might as well take full advantage of it.

“Are you sure they’re random?” Donghyuck takes the bowl and tidies up, stands up and heads for the kitchen.

“I think so? I mean why would someone think of giving me those random stuff? Maybe he thinks I’m some kind of charity? Should I be offen-“

“No! I mean, I’m pretty sure he has his reasons. Maybe it’s not that random,” Donghyuck leaves the room hurriedly, taking the bowls and glass to the sink to be rinsed and washed.

“Oh, well, thanks for this by the way. Didn’t know it’d be this easy for us to be civil,” Jeno follows his neighbor to the sink, “Also thanks for the loud music. Wakes me up just in time for class.”

“No problem and you’ve always been the hostile one so it’s your fault we never got past that quiz incident,” Donghyuck laughs it off, watching Jeno sit on top of the table next to Donghyuck.

“Yeah. Sorry again for that. But promise me you’ll keep the noise down. I need to maintain my grades,” Jeno nudges Donghyuck with his elbow. He looks around his unit and wonders what Donghyuck’s looks like but decides on refraining from asking.

“My plants have also been miraculously living. I haven’t watered them in months yet they’re still alive,” Jeno points at his plants on the balcony where Jaemin arranged them “That’s why I think savior boy lives on the same floor. He might have been jumping over balconies to water them.”

The spoon Donghyuck was washing hits the metal sink when it slips his hand, startling jeno from his seat on the table.

“That makes sense. And Savior boy?” Donghyuck asks, washing the spoon again.

“That’s what I call him. He knows exactly when I run out of paper and batteries. And don’t get me started on the plants. My mom was so happy when she noticed the plants were still alive when she visited 2 weeks ago.”

“Wow,” Donghyuck’s reaction was definitely underwhelming but Jeno had no clue why.

“I hope he reveals himself someday. He seems like a nice guy or girl.”

“Yeah. I hope so too,” Donghyuck says, putting the dishes on the drying racks and wiping his hands dry on the apron that Jeno didn’t even notice he was wearing. It was the color of yellow, exactly the shade that gave a nice glow on Donghyuck’s tanned skin. “I need to leave by the way. Don’t forget to drink your medicine or Jaemin will kill me.”

Jeno watches as Donghyuck literally scoops his bag from his sofa before dashing outside, leaving the sick boy wondering if he said something wrong.

“Mark, I’m gonna fucking die. I can hear my heart wanting to jump out of my chest.” It’s been a recent habit to tell Mark about every catboy incident, always starting with that sentence.

“What did you give to Catboy lately?” Donghyuck hears no taint of worry in Mark’s response.

“I was in Catboy’s room seconds ago,” Donghyuck throws his bag to one side of the sofa before slumping down on the other side.

“Jesus Christ Hyuck, I never thought you’d trespass! That’s illegal!” Mark shouts, his decibel reaching it’s peak.

“Let me explain. It was legal, ok? He invited me in,” Donghyuck defends, into his Ice Bear plush with Mark still on the other side. Mark expecting to be deaf at a young age, with the amount of screaming Hyuck’s been doing lately. “I mean Jaemin basically let me in through a phone call and shit but that’s not what’s important. What’s important is Me and Catboy are now civil as long as I keep the noise level lower at class.”

“A deal you’re gonna break,” Mark scoffs, “Why were you even inside? And how are you civil all of a sudden?”

Donghyuck explains how Jaemin got him into it and how he ended up inside Catboy’s. He also told Mark about Jeno’s theories on the secret gifts and how he’s supposedly on the same floor.

“Looks like you’re gonna get busted soon,” Mark jokes.

“You’re not helping at all. What the fuck do I do?”

“Tell him about it?”

“Yeah, so we can create the world’s record for shortest friendship ever.”

“That and you’ll be guilt-free.” Mark said, his tone serious. Donghyuck really didn’t know what to do. He knows the friendship would be saved if Jeno is chill with it but there’s also this huge possibility that he would find it creepy and annoying. It’s been months and he still hasn’t returned the notepad, he’s probably forgotten all about it already.

“If I were you I’d tell him as soon as possible. You’ve dragged this on for months already,” Mark warns.

“I know. I fucked up big time, huh?”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. You weren’t on good terms for almost half a semester. It’d be hard to tell him about it,” Mark comforts Hyuck, “Let’s go out for some cake, I’ll pick you up.”

“I swear you’re the bestest bestfriend ever. Second only to me, of course.”

“So how was yesterday?” Jaemin asks as soon as Jeno takes the seat next to him Their current class was art, a subject Jaemin signed both his and Jeno’s names to follow Renjun.

“Lucky his porridge didn’t kill me last night or my ghost would haunt you forever,” says Jeno, taking out his art notebook and the new pencil from his Savior.

“Your ghost would follow me no matter how you die, you can’t live without me, no pun intended,” Jaemin gives him a smile before taking a look at Jeno’s pencil.

“That’s new. You should have told me you were buying, we could have gone together.”

“Nah. Savior boy got it for me a few months ago. You know I lose most of my pencils every other month.”

“Interesting,” Jaemin nods and continues, “So how was last night?”

“It was ok,” Jeno avoids Jaemin’s questioning eyes, he knows he’ll get caught lying no matter what he does, he just doesn’t know how to lie.

“Just ok?” Jaemin mocks him.

“Ok. It was kinda fun until he suddenly left. We were talking about my plants when he suddenly said he needed to go home,” Jeno pouting.

“Plants? What about the plants?”

“You know, how my plants are surviving. I also told him about my theory on savior boy,” Jeno rests his chin on his hand, replaying the scene from last night in his head. He still couldn’t understand why Donghyuck suddenly went home. “I wonder what I said.”

“Oh my sweet summer child,” Jaemin shakes his head as he clicks his tongue, “It’s everything that you said.”

Jeno looks at him, confused as to what he was talking about when the professor arrived with a new set of activities. Jeno gives Jaemin the “we’ll talk about this later” look.

“I can’t go have dinner with you tonight, I’ll be accompanying Renjun with his Chemistry tutorial,” Jaemin tells Jeno as soon as their last subject of the day ended. “Ask the kids, I heard it’s the start of their long weekend.”

“Chemistry tutorial?”

“Yeah. Renjun asked Donghyuck for help since it looks like he might be retaking it if he doesn’t get his shit together.”

“Even after what he did to him?” Jeno cocks his head to the side, genuinely confused.

“Yeah. Donghyuck’s never really been the type to refuse requests.”

“Oh.”

“What?”

“It’s just. He’s a better guy than I thought.” Jeno muses, motioning for Jaemin to get up so they could leave the building together.

“Yeah. You just never noticed it since you spent half the semester hating him.” Jaemin nudges him playfully, pointing towards where Donghyuck was walking with a friend. “Never too late befriend him.”

“Yeah. He seems like a nice guy. Really sad I spent months hating him when I could’ve had him tutor me in chemistry, it’s literally my blackhole in my grades,” Jeno laughs at Jaemin’s disgusted face.

“Stay away from me you freakin’ user,” Jaemin brushes him off, feigning dislike until they head out to the café where Renjun was meeting Donghyuck.

“I’d love to get tutored too but the cats are waiting,” Jeno leaves even before Donghyuck arrives, missing him by merely a few seconds.

“What are the 8 problems catboy has anyway?” it was a Sunday afternoon and Mark decided to visit his bestfriend. He knows Donghyuck’s been stressed lately and tutoring was helping him get his head out of the problem he’s currently in. So he decided to buy some pizza and ice cream to lift his mood up.

“8 problems?” Donghyuck layed down the clean plates and mugs on his coffee table, ready to devour the snacks his hyung brought for him. “Oh actually he only has 7 problems. He left 8 as blank.”

“So what are those 7 problems?” Marks takes a slice of pizza and takes a delightful bite of his following week’s allowance.

“Let me see, one – batteries, two – plants, three- alarm, fou-“

“Can’t believe you have them memorized,” Mark looks at Donghyuck with judgement.

“Shut up. Where was i? Oh right, four- paper, five- pencils, six – catfood and last are slippers.”

“I never heard about the slippers.”

“That’s because I never told you about it, duh.”

“Please don’t tell me it was one of the expensive slippers,” Mark sighs at his half eaten pizza. He couldn’t believe his friend turned into a sugar daddy. He was joking but he spoke it into reality.

“Not that expensive. It’s the exact design I saw scribbled on his notepad,” Donghyuck looks at mark with his lower lip sticking out, trying to earn sympathy and avoiding nagging.

“I won’t even ask for the price anymore.” Mark says, letting it go. Years of friendship with Donghyuck has taught To leave Donghyuck to his goals. “So what’s the plan?”

“I don’t have a plan.” Donghyuck shrugs, bluffing away his panic.

“Yeah that’s why I’m here,” Mark nods at himself, giving himself a pat on the back for being that kind of bestfriend.

“Can I just slip the notepad back? And pretend nothing ever happened?”

“Nope. Jaemin might slip and tell him either way. Better that it came from you than from someone else.”

“Yeah. You’re right. I’ll find an opportunity to actually talk have a good talk with him,” Donghyuck digs in on the ice cream that Mark bought when he hears his doorbell ring.

“I’ll get that. Go continue stuffing yourself,” Mark heads for the door, wondering who it could be. To his surprise, an unfamiliar face greets him when he opened the door.

“Is Donghyuck here? Or Did I get the wrong room?” The guy had pale skin and hair as dark as the night.

“You got the right door, what’s your name so I can tell him,” Mark asks, still clueless as to who the guy is.

“Jeno. Lee Jeno. I’m in some of his classes,” The guy answers and points to the room next to them, “I live next door.”

And that’s when Mark is hit by realization.

“Who is it?” Donghyuck appears from behind with a tub of icecream and a spoon shoved in his mouth.

“He says his name is-“

“Ah, Jeno. What are you doing here?” Donghyuck quickly hides the spoon behind him.

“I just kind of have a favor to ask,” Jeno scratches the back of his head and gives Mark and look.

“I’ll leave you two alone,” Mark takes the tub and spoon from Donghyuck before walking back to the living area. But not before giving his best friend the obligatory teasing wink.

Once they were left alone, Jeno clears his throat and takes a deep breathe.

“Careful. You might suck me in by how deep that inhale was,” Donghyuck chuckles at his own joke.

“Funny,” Jeno presses his lips together before continuing, “Can I join your next Chemistry tutorial session?”

“Absolutely. You could have just barged in and I wouldn’t mind. Besides I think Renjun needs a study buddy not a date. Jaemin just can’t stop flirting I’m gonna smack him someday.”

“Perfect then. See you next?” Jeno raises his eyebrows in question.

“Next Wednesday after my last class. Around 5 pm? Café across north’s gate.”

“OK, see you then!” Jeno flashes him a smile and Donghyuck swears his heart skipped a beat. How the hell will he survive Wednesday?

Wednesday comes in a blink of an eye and Donghyuck has never been this anxious, except maybe when he heard Michael Jackson might visit Korea only for it to be a complete hoax.

Donghyuck looks around the café, it was peaceful with a brown motif. The walls were decorated with photos donated by regular customers, mason jars hanging by threads for their lights and a few books displayed on the shelves. A perfect place to study in.

Renjun arrives first, heading straight to the counter after greeting him. He already ordered a cup of the café’s signature hot chocolate, he’s never been a huge fan of coffee.

“I heard Jeno’s joining us today?” Renjun take’s a seat in front of him, reserving both seats for him and Jaemin. Donghyuck wonders if Renjun would get any studying done today.

A few minutes past 5, Jaemin and Jeno arrive with Jaemin’s eyes already on Renjun.

His heart did that thing again, a backflip from the pit of his stomach to his chest.

_It’s just studying. What am I getting excited for. And there’s 4 of us. Not like it’s only us two._

“Hey,” Jeno takes the seat beside him, laying the books down on the table before asking Jaemin to get him his Iced Chocolate. “Looks like we’re third-wheeling, huh?”

Donghyuck laughs. It hasn’t been a minute, yet Renjun and Jaemin are already practically all over each other.

“Atleast we got each other now. Last session must have been hell,” Jeno laughs and Donghyuck swears he heard the angels sing. Since when was he this whipped for Lee Jeno a.k.a catboy? Last time he remembered, it was just a small crush.

“Yeah. Went through the 7 levels of hell with all the cheesiness. I won’t get shocked if I suddenly get diabetes from hanging out with these two too much.

They both burst out in laughter, earning confused glances from the 2 lovebirds.

The session ended well, with Jeno around, Renjun was focusing better and was learning faster. It really was a good luck that Jeno decided he wanted to join. The day was fun with random jokes breaking the awkward ice around them whenever the tension gets too serious.

Donghyuck also enjoyed Jeno’s company. Surprisingly, they shared more than just an address, they also share the same type of humor.

“Really enjoyed and I learned a lot today,” Jeno nudges Donghyuck as they leave the café, “Can there be a time when we study with just the two of us?”

Jeno didn’t know where this boost in confidence came from but he’s certainly enjoying it. Donghyuck was fun and definitely a great guy. His shy and introvert self would turn upside down when he was with Donghyuck. The guy just brings out the socializer in everyone. This can be a huge step towards a great friendship.

“Yeah. No problem. When do you want it? Next week? This weekend?” The words came out of Donghyuck’s mouth like word vomit.

“Chill, it’s just studying,” Renjun wasn’t able to hold back from teasing Donghyuck.

“This weekend, I can come over or you can come over again?”

“I’ll come over. My rooms a huge mess right now,” Donghyuck getting embarrassed from admitting the status of his room.

“Great. I’ll prepare food to snack while we study,” Jeno again smiles and Donghyuck knows he’s going down that rabbit hole real fast.

“This is finally your chance to tell him about the notepad. Please, just tell him,” Mark came over again, this time with instant ramen since he’s still broke from the previous week’s expenditure. It’s already Friday and Donghyuck’s meeting Jeno tomorrow.

Donghyuck has been pacing back and forth the whole day around his living room. His moods oscillating in a matter of minutes that Mark is starting to get worried. He’s pretty sure Donghyuck’s head over heels for the guy and there’s a good percent catboy’s also into him. But his constant worrying about getting hated by him is what’s holding him back.

“Calm down. It looks like Catboy warmed up to you really quick after your last visit,” Mark pulled Donghyuck down to the sofa, the constant walking around was making him dizzy.

“But I basically stole something and creepily gave him the things he said he needed anonymously,” Donghyuck resorted to biting his fingernails, a bad habit he still hasn’t grown from.

“At least you know it’s creepy as hell but it isn’t illegal and you were helping him. He hasn’t been late since that time you were both absent right? And you actually gave him his weekly supply of catfood to save up on pocket money without even denting your own pocket,” Mark comforting the anxious Donghyuck. “And be sure to tell him, before Jaemin can.”

“Yeah. I hope everything goes well tomorrow. Wish me luck,” Donghyuck hugging his knees closer and resting hie head on top. He probably won’t be able to sleep tonight.

The date did in fact go well. Donghyuck calls it a date regardless of Mark’s stupid opinions. It’s a date. He doesn’t say it out loud though because he’d be embarrassed if Jeno finds out.

“Remember about Savior Boy?” Jeno’s question snapped Donghyuck from his daydreaming, suddenly he’s sweating buckets out of nervousness again.

“Yeah,” Donghyuck says, keeping his answers short, careful not to spill anything.

“I’d really want to meet him someday. It’s about time I repay him for everything he’s done, but I don’t know why he hasn’t introduced himself yet?” Donghyuck gets surprised by how Jeno looks sad, hope slowly growing from somewhere deep within is chest that he can actually tell Jeno his identity soon.

“I’m sure he’s shy. Give him a few more weeks or something,” Donghyuck isn’t able to hide his excitement anymore, a broad smile now shines from his face as he continues to drink the tea Jeno has prepared for his visit.

“He should at least give me a clue,” Jeno nods his head to Donghyuck’s suggestion of waiting. He really can’t do anything if Savior boy doesn’t want to reveal anything yet.

“Let’s go back to studying,” Donghyuck suggests, changing the topic as he’s afraid he might give in. He wants to hear more about how Jeno thinks of him.

They dive back into studying but Donghyuck’s head is somewhere up in the clouds thinking of ways to give Jeno little bits of hints for the next gifts he’ll be sending.

3 weeks after Jeno and Donghyuck started their study dates and numerous stories of how Jeno thinks Savior boy looks like, a note finally came together with a new batch of catfood

_Hope you enjoy the cat food – Boron sulfide_

Jeno laughs at the choice of pen name. He laughs at how corny and nerdy it is.

After weeks of the dates they’ve been going on, Jeno’s already half certain who his Savior boy is. The way Donghyuck smiles whenever Jeno starts talking about him is a dead giveaway. And Donghyuck’s not really discrete on asking if he’s already ran out of paper and how there’s a fresh batch out in his doorstep whenever he says yes.

Jeno’s been meaning to tell him to stop the gifts since he’s already feeling guilty about how much the guy’s been spending on him but he wants Donghyuck to be the one to tell him. He doesn’t want to surprise the guy by suddenly telling him to stop the gifts, he might take it the wrong way.

He heads down their building, down to the alley where the strays would usually be waiting for him with the food. Maybe a few more weeks and Donghyuck would tell him already.

Every once in a while, they invite Renjun to join the studying and this is where Donghyuck regrets calling the 2 lover birds over that day.

It started off normal, with Jeno and Donghyuck studying and the lovebirds displaying their chemistry instead of studying chemistry. Jeno had snacks again, fruits his mother sent him the other day.

Then everything started going downhill when Renjun decided to point out the slippers that Donghyuck had given Jeno.

“Those slippers look cute,” Renjun reaches out for Jeno’s foot, wanting to feel the fur fabric that was shaped into the cheeks of a cat. “Where’d you get them?” 

Jeno steals a quick glance at Donghyuck, waiting for his reaction.

“I’m not sure. I got it from Savior Boy,” Jeno answers Renjun, still waiting for what Donghyuck’s reaction will be. “Cute isn’t it? He really knows what I like. I wonder how?”

“Probably because Hyuck has your notepad,” Renjun says it in a quick fluid motion. Like he didn’t just drop the secret Donghyuck’s been hiding from Jeno.

Jaemin’s eyes widens in panic as he realizes his boyfriend just spilled something he wasn’t even supposed to know. Caught guilty of sharing Donghyuck’s secret, he covers Renjun’s mouth and notices anxiety written all over Donghyuck’s face. He and Renjun really fucked up.

“Jeno…” Donghyuck unknowingly digs his fingers into his palm, not sure what to say.

Jeno waits but is only met by silence. Donghyuck seems to be having an internal conflict based on his expression but Jeno gives Donghyuck the chance to explain.

“I’m sorry,” Donghyuck finally breaks the silence, eyes still on his hands on top of his lap.

“Sorry for what?”

“Sorry I lied and stole your notepad,” Donghyuck says. Mind still a mess of what to say.

“It’s okay. Can I have it back?” Jeno doesn’t want to be mean but he wants Donghyuck to tell him. He wants to her Donghyuck say he’s been the one leaving gifts outside his door.

“Yeah. I’ll fetch. Give me a few minutes,” Donghyuck runs back to his room to retrieve the notepad.

Donghyuck’s panicking and embarrassed all at the same time. He has no idea what hes going to do or how he will face Jeno again. He contemplates on calling Mark and asking for his help but Mark’s currently with his brother, he didn’t want to intrude on their private time. He heads to his room, grabbing the notepad that was on top of his study table.

He can run away now, transfer to a different school and change his name. He’s always wanted another name, Haechan seems cool. Maybe he could do that. He’s sure his dad would allow him if he agreed to take over the company, sure he might end up giving up on his dreams of becoming a researcher but he’ll take anything in exchange of what’s happening now.

He’s about to pick up his phone, actually considering calling his dad when he hears someone just outside his bedroom.

“You know, you really shouldn’t be leaving your main door open,” It was Jeno, leaning on the door frame on the entrance to his bedroom. Donghyuck feels his stomach flip again seeing how Jeno looks good, arms crossed in front of him and a cocky smile playing on his lips. “Someone might just come in and suddenly do favors for you.”

Donghyuck feels all his blood rush to his cheeks in a matter of milliseconds. Looks like there’s no escaping now.

“Can I have my notepad back? I need to do something,” Jeno reaches out his left arm, waiting for Donghyuck to give him back his notepad.

Donghyuck, with palms sweaty from everything that’s happened in just half an hour, hands it to Jeno.

Jeno wastes no time and looks for a page, Donghyuck can’t see from his angle but when Jeno finds it, he takes a pen from his pocket and starts writing something. In a matter of seconds, Jeno approaches Donghyuck and hands him the notepad back.

“I still have 1 problem you haven’t solved for me,” Jeno flashes him another smile and Donghyuck was certain his knees were about to give in from all the fluttering his heart has been doing.

Confusion is an understatement for what Donghyuck feels at the very moment because on the bottom of Jeno’s list of problems is a new entry, written in red ink in Jeno’s messy handwriting.

  1. _I need a boyfriend. Preferably someone who lives nearby and can help me in Chemistry_



Donghyuck looks at Jeno who was smiling not just with is lips but with his eyes. Donghyuck really doesn’t know how to answer so he says the first thing that comes to his mind.

“You’re not mad?” Donghyuck asks, afraid to meet Jeno’s gaze.

“I’m not. I might have been a little bit annoyed if I found out it was you when I still hated you,” Jeno shrugs, “But really, I don’t so stop walking away from me.

“That’s good to hear. I swear I was about to move countries in case you hated me,” Donghyuck sighs in relief.

“Wouldn’t want that would we? How are you going to help me with my last problem?” Jeno smiles, eyes disappearing again. Donghyuck feels his blood rushing to his cheeks, forming a deeper blush as if his face wasn’t flushed enough.

“If you’re okay with having me,” And this doesn’t fail to make Jeno laugh once again.

“So is that a yes?”

“Definitely,” Donghyuck nods. “I swear I’m more confident than this. You just make me really nervous."

“I’m glad I do, but I also really like noisy and confident Donghyuck so it’s a win-win for me,” Jeno takes a step closer while Donghyuck takes one back. And another and another until Donghyuck’s back hits the edge of his study table.

Jeno’s face inches closer, Donghyuck’s heart was dancing in his chest as he watches Jeno’s lips hover on top of his own. They both close their eyes, waiting for the soft brushing of lips but nothing comes, just a loud thump of something hitting his apartment floor.

He opens his eyes and finds Jaemin and Renjun rubbing the parts of their bodies that came in a hard contact with the ground.

Jeno slides down to the floor, confidence vanishing through thin air as he realizes their friends saw their failed attempt of a first kiss. He covers his face with his pale hands and winces.

“I don’t mind shy Jeno, too,” Donghyuck chuckles and gives Jeno a kiss on his cheek before offering Jeno his hand to pull him up. “We still have a lot of time in our hands. Let’s take it in our own pace.”

Jeno accepts, still embarrassed from what just happened or what didn’t happen and gave their other two friends a glare, “Also have time to disown two friends but I’ll let this slide. Since if it wasn’t for them, we’d still be dancing around each other waiting for someone to make the first move.

“By the way, your penname sucks.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this and sorry if its a little bit rushed. T T


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